T.F.M. Pages

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

How To Build A Landing Net - Part 3

The landing net build continues with J Wood Fly Fishing and a lot gets done in this series of photos and narrative. It's my hope that readers get as much out of these posts as I do. It is really neat to see a craftsman at work.

Thanks again to John Wood for taking the time to photograph his
process and providing the narrative that is included as well. Tomorrow we'll show off the finished net and on Friday, and through the weekend, there will be a contest to give this net away.

With the bag lace holes drilled and the measure marks dowels installed it is time for the final shaping of the net frame before applying the finish.

The inner face of the lace holes is lightly countersunk and a sharp knife is used to taper the throat of the hoop.

A knife is used as a scraper to chamfer all the edges along the hoop and handle. Soft rounded edges are essential for a catch and release net. Rounded edges will do far less damage to the slime coat and scales of a fish than sharp crisp edges which can easily grab and removes scales from a fish during landing.

After all the edges are chamfered they are all well rounded and smoothed. Four grades of sand paper ranging from 120 to 320 grit are used in this process.

My logo is burned into the handle using a wood burning tool fitted with a calligraphy tip. The final surface preparation is done with steel wool and finally tack cloth just before the first coat of oil is applied. The application of the finish oil really brings the wood grain to life.

Altogether eight coats of finish are applied to the net frame. Each coat is allowed to cure for 24 hours or up to four days. Every coat of finish is buffed before the next coat is applied. After the last coat is cured it is buffed using rotten stone to give the finish a deep, even luster.

Once the finish is complete and fully cured the net bag is laced in place using heavy Dacron cord. The net is ready to go fishing!

Check out the J Wood Fly Fishing website for more information. Follow the Facebook page for the latest shop news and the occasional giveaway as well.

1 comment:

Beautiful work. This has been a great series. I can say from experience that fabricating "non-typical" shapes- i.e., assemblies that aren't rectangular or other simpler shapes- is a great challenge. No matter how many jigs and fixtures are created to facilitate and speed the process, it comes down to a good eye and craftsmanship. Well done!